2023 Eisner Award winners: Best writer, series, and more

The Eisner Award ceremony took place last night in San Diego, with a bevy of incredible creators coming together to celebrate the best in comics. That includes best series, writer, artist, cover artist, and so much more.

Many of the winners you’ve probably seen pop up on AIPT, be it in reviews, coverage, or on the AIPT Comics podcast.

James Tynion IV won for best writer, Jordie Bellaire for best coloring, Greg Smallwood for best penciler/inker, Stan Sakai for best lettering, and Bruno Redondo for best cover artist. Best comics-related periodical/journalism goes to the much-deserved PanelXPanel, edited by Otsmane-Elhaou and Tiffany Babb. Kate Beaton won two Eisner awards for Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands as best writer/artist and best graphic memoir.

Fans of Batman can squeal with glee as it won a few words like a best short story by Kevin Conroy and J. Bone for their “Finding Batman” short and Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler winning best single issue.

Best new series goes to Chip Zdarsky’s Public Domain, best ongoing series goes to Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Nightwing, and best limited series goes to The Human Target by Greg Smallwood and Tom King. Oh, and best anthology winner Matt Bors takes home an Eisner for The Nib Magazine.

Check out all the winners and nominees below.

Best Lettering
WINNER: Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (IDW)

Pat Brosseau, Batman: The Knight, Wonder Woman: The Villainy of Our Fears (DC): Creepshow, Dark Ride, I Hate This Place, Skybound Presents: Afterschool (Image Skybound)

Chris Dickey, The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night (Abrams ComicArts)

Todd Klein, Chivalry (Dark Horse); Fables (DC); Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age (Marvel)

Nate Piekos, Black Hammer Reborn, Minor Threats, Shaolin Cowboy, Stranger Things: Kamchatka (Dark Horse), I Hate Fairyland, Twig (Image)

Thomas Woodruff, Francis Rothbart! The Tale of a Fastidious Feral (Fantagraphics)

Best Digital Comic

WINNER: Barnstormers, by Scott Snyder and Tula Lotay (Comixology Originals) Behind the Curtain, by Sara del Giudice, translation by M. B. Valente (Europe Comics)

Ripple Effects, by Jordan Hart, Bruno Chiroleu, Justin Harder, and Shane Kadlecik (Fanbase Press)

All Princesses Die Before Dawn, by Quentin Zuttion, translation by M. B. Valente (Europe Comics)

Sixty Years in Winter, by Ingrid Chabbert and Aimée de Jongh, translation by Matt Madden (Europe Comics)

Best Webcomic

WINNER: Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe (WEBTOON), https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/list?title_no=1320&page=5

Deeply Dave, by Grover, http://www.deeplydave.com/

Delilah Dirk: Practical Defence Against Piracy, by Tony Cliff, https://www.delilahdirk.com/dd4/dd4-p46.html

The Mannamong, by Michael Adam Lengyel, https://mannamong.com/episode-1/

Spores, by Joshua Barkman, https://falseknees.com/22ink1.html

Best Writer

WINNER: James Tynion IV, House of Slaughter, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM! Studios); The Nice House on the Lake, The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country (DC), The Closet, The Department of Truth (Image)

Grace Ellis, Flung Out of Space (Abrams ComicArts)

Tom King, Batman: Killing Time, Batman: One Bad Day, Gotham City: Year One, The Human Target, Love Everlasting, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (DC)

Mark Russell, Traveling to Mars (Ablaze), One-Star Squadron, Superman: Space Age (DC); The Incal: Psychoverse (Humanoids)

Chip Zdarsky, Stillwater (Image Skybound); Daredevil (Marvel)

Best Writer/Artist

WINNER: Kate Beaton, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (Drawn & Quarterly)

Sarah Andersen, Cryptid Club (Andrews McMeel)

Espé, The Pass (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University)

Junji Ito, Black Paradox, The Liminal Zone (VIZ Media)

Zoe Thorogood, It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth (Image)

Best Cover Artist (for multiple covers)

WINNER: Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC)

Jen Bartel, She-Hulk (Marvel)

Alex Ross, Astro City: That Was Then . . . (Image); Fantastic Four, Black Panther (Marvel)

Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

Zoe Thorogood, Joe Hill’s Rain (Syzygy/Image)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

WINNER: The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster! by Mo Willems (Union Square Kids)

Beneath The Trees: A Fine Summer by Dav (Magnetic Press)

Fox + Chick: Up and Down: and Other Stories, by Sergio Ruzzier (Chronicle Books)

Grumpy Monkey Who Threw That? by Suzanne Lang and Max Lang (Random House Studio)

Hey, Bruce!: An Interactive Book, by Ryan Higgins (Disney/Hyperion)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)

WINNER: Frizzy, by Claribel A. Ortega and Rose Bousamra (First Second/Macmillan)

Adventuregame Comics: Leviathan, by Jason Shiga (Amulet/Abrams)

Isla To Island, by Alexis Castellanos (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster)

Little Monarchs, by Jonathan Case (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House)

Swim Team, by Johnnie Christmas (HarperAlley)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

WINNER: Do A Powerbomb! by Daniel Warren Johnson (Image)

Chef’s Kiss, by Jarrett Melendez and Danica Brine (Oni)

Clementine Book One, by Tillie Walden (Image Skybound)

Heartstopper Volume 4, by Alice Oseman (Scholastic Graphix)

Wash Day Diaries, by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith (Chronicle Books)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

WINNER: Blacksad: They All Fall Down Part 1, by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, translation by Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander (Dark Horse)

Always Never, by Jordi Lafebre, translation by Montana Kane (Dark Horse)

Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story, by Catherine Pioli, translation by J. T. Mahany (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)

The Pass, by Espé, translation by J.T. Mahany (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)

Tiki: A Very Ruff Year, by David Azencot and Fred Leclerc, translation by Nanette McGuinness (Life Drawn/Humanoids)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

WINNER: Shuna’s Journey, by Hayao Miyazaki; translation by Alex Dudok de Wit (First Second/Macmillan)

Black Paradox, by Junji Ito, translation by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)

The Hellbound vols. 1-2, by Yeon Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok, translation by Danny Lim (Dark Horse)

Look Back, by Tatsuki Fujimoto, translation by Amanda Haley (VIZ Media)

PTSD Radio vol. 1, by Masaaki Nakayama, translation by Adam Hirsch (Kodansha)

Talk to My Back by Yamada Murasaki, translation by Ryan Holmberg (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Humor Publication

WINNER: Revenge of the Librarians, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)

Cryptid Club, by Sarah Andersen (Andrews McMeel)

I Hate This Place, by Kyle Starks and Artyom Topilin (Image Skybound)

Killer Queens, by David Booher and Claudia Balboni (Dark Horse)

Mr. Lovenstein Presents: Failure, by J. L. Westover (Image Skybound)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

WINNER: Chivalry by Neil Gaiman, adapted by Colleen Doran (Dark Horse)

Rain by Joe Hill, adapted by David M. Booher and Zoe Thorogood (Syzygy/Image)

Ten Days in a Madhouse by Nellie Bly, adapted by Brad Ricca and Courtney Sieh (Gallery 13/Simon $ Schuster)

Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes, The Graphic Album, edited by Rantz Hoseley (Z2)

A Visit to Moscow by Rabbi Rafael Grossman, adapted by Anna Olswanger and Yevgenia Nayberg (Turner)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old)

WINNER: Come Over Come Over. It’s So Magic, and My Perfect Life, by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)

Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commandos, by Jay Jackson (New York Review Comics)

The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1922-1924, by George Herriman, edited by J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)

Macanudo: Welcome to Elsewhere, by Liniers, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)

Pogo The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips: Volume 8: Hijinks from the Horn of Plenty, by Walt Kelly, edited by Mark Evanier and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old)

WINNER: The Fantastic Worlds of Frank Frazetta, edited by Dian Hansen (TASCHEN)

The Deluxe Gimenez: The Fourth Power & The Starr Conspiracy, by Juan Gimenez, edited by Alex Donoghue and Bruno Lesigne (Humanoids)

Home to Stay! The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories by Ray Bradbury and various; edited by J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)

The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus 1 (Abrams ComicArts)

Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge: The Diamond Jubilee Collection by Carl Barks; edited by David Gerstein (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

WINNER: Parker: The Martini Edition—Last Call, by Richard Stark, Darwyn Cooke, Ed Brubaker, and Sean Phillips (IDW)

Days of Sand, by Aimée de Jongh, translation by Christopher Bradley (SelfMadeHero)

Geneviève Castrée: Complete Works, by Geneviève Castrée, translation by Phil Elverum and Aleshia Jensen (Drawn & Quarterly)

Mazebook Dark Horse Direct Edition, by Jeff Lemire (Dark Horse)

One Beautiful Spring Day, by Jim Woodring (Fantagraphics)

Super Spy Deluxe Edition, by Matt Kindt (Dark Horse)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

WINNER: Greg Smallwood, The Human Target (DC)

Jason Shawn Alexander, Killadelphia, Nita Hawes’ Nightmare Blog (Image)

Alvaro Martínez Bueno, The Nice House on the Lake (DC)

Sean Phillips, Follow Me Down, The Ghost in You (Image)

Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC) Highlights include best winner

Best Coloring

WINNER: Jordie Bellaire, The Nice House on the Lake, Suicide Squad: Blaze (DC); Antman, Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age (Marvel)

Jean-Francois Beaulieu, I Hate Fairyland 2022, Twig (Image)

Dave McCaig, The Incal: Psychoverse (Humanoids)

Jacob Phillips, Follow Me Down, The Ghost in You, That Texas Blood (Image)

Alex Ross and Josh Johnson, The Fantastic Four: Full Circle (Abrams ComicArts)

Diana Sousa, Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins; The Mighty Nein Origins: Yasha Nydoorin; The Mighty Nein Origins: Fjord Stone; The Mighty Nein Origins: Caleb Widogast (Dark Horse)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

WINNER: Sana Takeda, The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night (Abrams ComicArts); Monstress (Image)

Lee Bermejo, A Vicious Circle (BOOM! Studios)

Felix Delep, Animal Castle (Ablaze)

Daria Schmitt, The Monstrous Dreams of Mr. Providence (Europe Comics)

Zoe Thorogood, Rain (Syzygy/Image)

Thomas Woodruff, Francis Rothbart! The Tale of a Fastidious Feral (Fantagraphics)

Best Publication Design

WINNER: Parker: The Martini Edition—Last Call, designed by Sean Phillips (IDW)

Francis Rothbart! The Tale of a Fastidious Feral, designed by Thomas Woodruff, Jacob Covey, and Ryan Dinnick (Fantagraphics)

A Frog in the Fall (and later on), designed by Linnea Sterte, Olle Forsslöf, and Patrick Crotty (PEOW)

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts 40X40: Bad Reputation/I Love Rock-n-Roll, designed by Josh Bernstein and Jason Ullmeyer (Z2)

Mazebook Dark Horse Direct Edition, designed by Tom Muller (Dark Horse)

Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes, The Graphic Album, designed by Lauryn Ipsum (Z2)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

WINNER: PanelXPanel magazine, edited by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and Tiffany Babb (panelxpanel.com)

Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)

Comic Book Creator, edited by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)

The Comics Journal #308, edited by Gary Groth, Kristy Valenti, and Rachel Miller (Fantagraphics)

Rob Salkowitz, Forbes, ICv2, Publishers Weekly

Best Comics-Related Book

WINNER: Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects, by Benjamin L. Clark and Nat Gertler (Schulz Museum)

The Art of the News: Comics Journalism, edited by Katherine Kelp-Stebbins and Ben Saunders (Oregon State University Press)

The Charlton Companion, by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)

Gladys Parker: A Life in Comics, A Passion for Fashion, by Trina Robbins (Hermes Press)

Resurrection: Comics in Post-Soviet Russia, by José Alaniz (Ohio State University Press)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

WINNER: The LGBTQ+ Comics Studies Reader: Critical Openings, Future Directions, edited by Alison Halsall and Jonathan Warren (University Press of Mississippi)

Bandits, Misfits, and Superheroes: Whiteness and Its Borderlands in American Comics and Graphic Novels, by Josef Benson and Doug Singsen (University Press of Mississippi)

Graphic Medicine, edited by Erin La Cour and Anna Poletti (University of Hawai’i’ Press)

How Comics Travel: Publication, Translation, Radical Literacies, by Katherine Kelp-Stebbins (Ohio State University Press)

Teaching with Comics and Graphic Novels. By Tim Smyth (Routledge)

Best Short Story

WINNER: “Finding Batman” by Kevin Conroy and J. Bone in DC Pride 2022 (DC)

“The Beekeeper’s Due,” by Jimmy Stamp and Débora Santos, in Scott Snyder Presents: Tales from the Cloakroom (Cloakroom Comics)

“Good Morning,” by Christopher Cantwell and Alex Lins, in Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood #4 (Marvel)

“Silent All These Years,” by Margaret Atwood and David Mack, in Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes (Z2)

“You Get It,” by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto, in Amazing Fantasy #1000 (Marvel)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

WINNER: Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC)

Mary Jane & Black Cat Beyond, by Jed Mackay and C. F. Villa (Marvel)

Moon Knight: Black, White, and Blood #3, edited by Tom Brevoort (Marvel)

Star Trek #400, edited by Heather Antos (IDW)

A Vicious Circle Book 1, by Mattson Tomlin and Lee Bermejo (BOOM! Studios)

Best Anthology

WINNER: The Nib Magazine, edited by Matt Bors (Nib)

Creepshow, edited by Alex Antone and Jon Moisan (Image Skybound)

The Illustrated Al: The Songs of “Weird Al” Yankovic, edited by Josh Bernstein (Z2)

Sensory: Life on the Spectrum, edited by Bex Ollerton (Andrews McMeel)

Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes, The Graphic Album, edited by Rantz Hoseley (Z2)

Best New Series

PREVIEW: Public Domain, by Chip Zdarsky (Image)

The Atonement Bell, by Jim Ousley and Tyler B. Ruff (Red 5)

Love Everlasting, by Tom King and Elsa Charretier (Image)

Star Trek, by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Ramon Rosanas (IDW)

Traveling to Mars, by Mark Russell and Roberto Meli (Ablaze)

Best Limited Series

WINNER: The Human Target, by Tom King and Greg Smallwood (DC)

Animal Castle, by Xavier Dorison and Felix Delep (Ablaze)

Batman: One Bad Day, edited by Dave Wielgosz and Jessica Berbey (DC)

Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age, by Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham (Marvel)

Superman: Space Age, by Mark Russell, Michael Allred, and Laura Allred (DC)

Best Continuing Series

WINNER: Nightwing, by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo (DC)

Daredevil, by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto and Rafael de Latorre (Marvel)

The Department of Truth, by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (Image)

Killadelphia, by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander (Image)

The Nice House on the Lake, by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez Bueno (DC)

She-Hulk, by Rainbow Rowell, Rogê Antônio, Luca Maresca, and Takeshi Miyazawa (Marvel)

Best Reality-Based Work

WINNER: Flung Out of Space, by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer (Abrams ComicArts)

Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense, by Noël Simsolo and Dominique Hé, translation by Montana Kane (NBM)

Alice Guy: First Lady of Film, by José-Louis Bocquet and Catel Muller, translation by Edward Gauvin (SelfMadeHero)

But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust, edited by Charlotte Schallié (University of Toronto Press)

Invisible Wounds: Graphic Journalism, by Jess Ruliffson (Fantagraphics)

Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball, by Jon Chad (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Graphic Memoir

WINNER: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, by Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)

Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story, by Catherine Pioli, translated by J. T. Mahany (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)

It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth: An Auto-Bio-Graphic-Novel, by Zoe Thorogood (Image)

So Much for Love: How I Survived a Toxic Relationship, by Sophie Lambda (First Second/Macmillan)

Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure, by Lewis Hancox (Scholastic Graphix)

Best Graphic Album—New

WINNER: The Night Eaters, Book 1: She Eats the Night, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Abrams ComicArts)

The Book of Niall, by Barry Jones (Ellie & Beatty)

Crushing, by Sophie Burrows (Algonquin Young Readers)

Francis Rothbart! The Tale of a Fastidious Feral, by Thomas Woodruff (Fantagraphics)

Ultrasound, by Conor Stechschulte (Fantagraphics)

Bill Finger Award
Sam Glanzman
Barbara Friedlander
Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award
Beth Accomando
Scott Dunbier
Will Eisner Hall of Fame Inductees
Brian Bolland (by vote)
Ann Nocenti (by vote)
Tim Sale (by vote)
Diana Schutz (by vote)
Jay Johnson
Gaspar Saladino
Win Mortimer
Jack Katz
Tatjana Wood
Tony DeZuniga
Mort Walker
Garry Trudeau
Justin Green
Aline Kominsky-Crumb
Diane Noomin
Bill Griffith
Jerry Bails
Jeffrey Catherine Jones
Kim Thompson
Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Award
Eitan Manhoff of Cape & Cowl Comics in Oakland, CA
Russ Manning Best Newcomer Award
Zoe Thorogood